Jan Dhan accounts be linked to Aadhaar: PM Narendra Modi

All Jan Dhan bank accounts should be linked to Aadhaar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, asking bankers to speed up this process and redouble efforts on financial literacy. He wrote an email to all bankers to appreciate their ‘exceptional work’ to implement the Jan Dhan Yojana and said 99.74% of all households in the country have been covered, surpassing the target.

The government will ensure that many more schemes utilise the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform, he said. “By opening 11.5 crore new accounts in a very short span, we have achieved a coverage of 99.74% of all households in the country. I congratulate you for your extraordinary efforts,” the Prime Minister wrote.

Contending that the bankers had proved sceptics wrong, he said it should motivate them further. “We need to redouble efforts on financial literacy. Aadhaar seeding needs to improve further. Bank mitras need to be enabled to carry out RuPay card and Aadhaar-enabled transactions in villages itself,” he told bankers.

“I want you to work to ensure that each account holder enrolls for Aadhaar and seeds it in the bank account. This needs to be done for all accounts. I am sure you will do this seeding with the same zeal you showed in driving bank account opening,” he added.

Jan Dhan, a major financial inclusion scheme, was launched by the Prime Minister on August 28 last year. Noting that “well begun is half done”, Modi laid out a roadmap for the future as he said the Jan Dhan Yojana provides a platform for changing the economic condition of the people.

“We need to build on this success and leverage these accounts to provide our citizens a wide range of credit, insurance and pension services. We also need to maintain high standards of customer service. This is the next phase of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,” Modi said.